Anybody every experience their GPS shutting down or locking up in high temperatures?
Mine did (Delorme PN-40 with Sanyo Eneloop batteries). Mine froze-up which leads me to believe it was the unit which is supposed to be tested to 167 degrees (F) (someone else will have to convert to C).
It was in a clear dry bag, in the sun (no clouds) ambient temperature about 89 degrees. It was pretty darn warm when I took it out of the dry bag but not 167 degrees.
Solar A/C Dry Bag anyone?
Bill G.
Mt. Pleasant, SC
GPS lockup
Bill: Not certain if this may be the problem. I too had Garmin handheld GPS issues- the screen went blank several times while in a clear drybag in hot temperatures atop my deck and was also losing the internal date and time. Hadn’t been using the device for awhile and it is about eight years old. Later determined the problem was most likely the internal battery, not the ones we take out to charge. Maybe this is the culprit.
Gps in bags?
An IPX7 designation means the GPS case can withstand accidental immersion in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes.
thats from the Garmin website, and Delorme are also rated IPX7.
give up the sealed plastic solar heater for your gps! Its waterproof already!
Not so
I fried a Garmin Etrex and my wife fried a Garmin Map-76
That is why we now keep them in clear soft transparant pouches.
I know they are supposed to be, but unless Garmin has fixed the problem, if they are exposed to hot sun, day after day the glue on the case will break down and it will leak.
They fixed my Etrex under warranty, but then the problem is the warranty continues from the date it was returned to me.
It was only in the water for a matter of seconds.
Her Map 76-was after the warranty expired. Hers was only in the water for a few seconds also.
Cheers,
JackL
Yep
When I started paddling I thought I was doing a good thing putting it in a bag on deck… When in the Florida sun it would get erratic and shut down…
You’re right
A bunch of paddling buds of mine have fried “Waterproof” GPS units. An accidental immersion or two is one thing, decks being awash for hours at a stretch is something else altogether.
I put mine in a plastic drysack, and put it in my dayhatch. Works fine in there, and my first one lasted 6 years. No sense in killing perfectly serviceable stuff.
dry bag the problem?
It could be that being sealed in a clear dry bag that it acted like a greenhouse and inside the bag actually heated up alot more than the outside air. I have had clear bottles of water on my deck that after an afternoon in the sun they are actually quite hot when you drink them. Just think of leaving all the windows up in your car on a hot afternoon.
Related issues
The units are sealed against liquid water of resonable terperature, not same as withstanding the higher temp water vapor that can build up in that little greenhouse, so in some cases bags can do more harm than good. Doesn’t happen a lot, but bags steam cooking electronics isn’t unknown (vapor that gets in can raise internal humidity, and/or cool and condense inside later). Humid enough here to do that without a bag! More often though, it’s just hot/weak battery issues and freezes/shutdowns can happen in or out of bags on a hot sunny deck (bag just traps heat and makes it a bit more likely).